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Full speed ahead for music school | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Monday, December 31, 2001

Full speed ahead for music school

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

After a simple but catchy two-note intro this fall, the Hawai'i Music Institute is ready to kick in with a full accompaniment of classes aimed at helping aspiring talents make it in the local music business.

Irmgard Aluli, before her death in October, is leading a song at the Hawai'i Music Institute.

Advertiser library photo

A year after Mike McCartney, Hawai'i Public Television president and CEO, suggested the idea, Windward Community College's ground-breaking new music school took the stage this fall with a pair of classes that were modestly enrolled (about 30 students) but nonetheless encouraging, said WCC interim provost Angela Meixell.

Now, thanks to enthusiastic support from members of Hawai'i's music industry, who provide expertise in the classroom as well as curricular development and marketing support, the institute is expanding its schedule to 14 noncredit classes this spring.

"People from the music business have invested a lot of time to make this work," Meixell said. "They've put aside professional competition and are sitting side by side at the same table to really work together."

This semester's classes include everything from "Vocal and Performance" with Melveen Leed; and "Creative Aspects of Music/Song Composition" with Brother Noland; to "Promoting and Marketing Your Band" with Milton Lau; and "The Business of Music, Part III  Challenges of Digital Technology" with Bill Meyer.

"We're pretty excited about the range of classes we're able to offer now," Meixell said.